The Grimm Turnabout
by aidanthegamer5
Summary: Everyone knows what happened to Yang at the Vytal Tournament, but what if someone else came in to save the day?
1. Chapter 1

"I'm sorry, but you've left us with no choice."

"But he _attacked_ me!" countered Yang, angry that no one believed her. Ironwood continued to pace the room, simply stating, "Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise." "But Yang would never do that!" argued Weiss; she hadn't gotten to know Yang as well as Ruby or Blake, but she still knew Yang well enough to make a judgement. "Yeah!" agreed Ruby, standing up for her sister. Ironwood sighed. "You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did...under normal circumstances. What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight is past..." Yang countered, "But I wasn't-" "That's ENOUGH!" snapped Ironwood. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that you are disqualified." Ironwood left the room, and Yang sat there in disbelief.

After a few moments, Yang asked her team, "You guys believe me, right?" "Duh!" Ruby said, not understanding why her own sister would think she's not believable. "You're hotheaded, but not ruthless," Weiss added. Blake, however, had said nothing. "...Blake?" Yang asked. "I _want_ to believe you..." Blake started. "Huh?!" shouted Ruby. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" demanded Weiss. "...Blake?" asked Yang again, this time on the verge of tears. Weiss continued, "How can you say something like that? Yang would _never_ lie to us!" Blake sighed. "I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. ...This is all just...very familiar." Yang looked at Blake, now with tears rolling down her face. "...But you're not him. And you've never done anything like this before. So...I want to trust you. I _will_ trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that _he_ attacked _you._ I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did." Yang, wiping away her tears, said, "I saw him attack me, so I attacked back." Blake sighed, smiled, and looked at Yang. "Okay. Thank you."

"I think I'm gonna rest up," said Yang. Blake, walking out with Weiss and Ruby, said, "We'll get out of your hair." Ruby closed the door, before Jaune, who was outside their room with Team JNPR, asked, "She doing okay?" Blake responded, "She's doing the best she can." Ruby then said, "I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So, until they land, no one can really question him about what happened." Yang, hearing this, remembered something, before pulling out her scroll and declaring, "If anyone can help me out here, it's him." She held her scroll up to her ear, while it rang.

 **January 9, 2:36 PM**  
 **Wright & Co. Law Offices**

"Ugh...rent is coming up," said an agitated Phoenix Wright. "Yea, and we haven't had a client in for _ever_ ," added Maya. "What are we gonna do..." said Nick. He switched on the TV. The reporter said, "In other news, a student at Beacon Academy participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament apparently attacked her other opponent. While this would be unsurprising, the shocking part is she attacked him after the fight was over. While no one is sure as to why this occurred, officials are saying that the student and her other teammates have been disqualified from the tournament altogether." Suddenly, the phone began to ring. Maya, who was closest to the phone, picked it up. "Wright and Co. Law Offices, Maya Fey speaking. ...Uh, yea, just a second." She handed the phone over to Nick, saying "It's for you, Nick." Nick cleared his throat, before saying, "Wright and Co. Law Offices, Phoenix Wright speaking." "Hi...Mr. Wright? ...I need your help," said the voice on the other end. Nick, running through all the people he knew in his head, couldn't match the voice. "May I ask who's speaking?" "My name is Yang Xiao Long, and I'm a student at Beacon Academy. Surely you've heard of it." Nick was starting to put the pieces together. "...You wouldn't happen to be the one who was disqualified from the Vytal Festival Tournament, would you?" "Talk about perfect timing," Maya muttered. Yang sighed. "Yes, that's me. And that's why I'm calling you - you are a famous defense attorney, after all." "Well, what do you want me to do? The footage clearly shows that you did it," Nick responded. Yang explained, "But here's the weird part: I saw _him_ attack _me_." Nick, put off by her explanation, said, "Ask the headmaster to give you the footage of the incident. Tell him you're going to get some help. I'll be over as soon as I can." Yang, excited, said, "Sure thing, Mr. Wright!" As Nick got ready to leave, Maya said, "This has got to be one of the weirdest cases we've done! Everyone else saw her attack him, but she said he attacked her! Got any ideas, Nick?" "Well..." started Nick, "the first step to any situation is to investigate. Do you know where this Beacon Academy is?" "It's out in a place called Vale, so we'll need to travel by flying. Beacon Academy is the most famous school for hunters and huntresses. Now I'm excited to go there!"

 **January 9, 3:54 PM**  
 **Beacon Academy**

Nick and Maya found themselves landing at Beacon Academy. Maya, in awe of the giant school, began to look around ecstatically. "Look at this place! It's HUGE! The people who get to go here must be the top of the top!" "Maya...remember, we're not here for sightseeing. We're here to help Yang out," said Nick. Ruby, who was just outside of the academy at the time, perked up at the sound of her sister's name. "Wait, what did you just say?" she asked, before immediately recognizing the lawyer. "Oh my gosh! You're Phoenix Wright! What's a famous lawyer like you doing here in Vale? Are you here to watch the tournament?" "Hi there. We're actually here because a student named Yang called us down here," explained Nick. "Oh...you're here because of that? Hmm...why would she do that? Everyone else is basically turned against her!" said Ruby. Maya said, "Come on, what are Nick and I known for? We're known for turning around cases that almost seem impossible! This is certainly no different." Ruby nodded in agreement, before saying, "If she called you down here, then you're gonna want to go to our dorm room. I'll take you there!" "Great, thanks, uh..." said Nick, realizing he didn't know her name. "Ruby Rose. I'm Yang's little sister."


	2. Chapter 2

Ozpin heard a knock on the dorm room door. "Hmm, wonder who that could be." "Oh, I'm expecting someone, actually. Remember how I said I was getting help?" responded Yang. "Yes?" "Well, heeeeeeeeeeere it is!" said Yang, opening the door. "...The janitor?" asked Ozpin, confused. "...oh, it's just him. What's taking him so long...?" said Yang, almost to herself. Yang was about to close the door, before she heard a "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" from down the hall. "Huh?" Yang quickly opened the door. Just down the hall was Ruby, accompanied by Phoenix Wright and Maya. "Okay, professor, _this_ is who I was referring to!" Ozpin too looked out the door, and looked the lawyer up and down. "So, this is your "help"?" asked Ozpin, before Yang nodded and explained, "Yep! This is Phoenix Wright, and that's his assistant, Maya Fey. Mr. Wright is a famous defense attorney, known the world over for being able to flip impossible cases on their heads!" "Really?" said Ozpin, almost surprised. "A pleasure, Mr. Wright, Miss Fey. I am Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy," said Ozpin, shaking Nick's and Maya's hands. "I'm to assume you are the reason behind Ms. Xiao Long asking for the footage of the controversial situation we have found ourselves in?" "Yep, that would be why. We just want to take a look at it to see if there's anything we can do to help her clear things up," explained Nick. "Take all the time you need, Mr. Wright. The footage is being displayed from Ms. Xiao Long's scroll, and you can manipulate it however you like." Ozpin left the room, muttering something about Ironwood.

Nick and Maya sat down, in front of the scroll, before Yang walked over and explained how it worked. "The scroll works as a remote, and what you see being projected is the footage itself. There's a zoom function, a moving function, a pause button, a fast forward button, and a slow motion button. Let me know if you find anything." "What will you be doing?" asked Maya. "I...need to rest. The whole situation is kinda stressing me out." Nick looked around the room, trying to find something to write with. He noticed a bin of pens on the desk. "Whose stuff is this?" he asked. "Oh, that's Weiss's stuff. You might wanna ask before using anything of hers." Ruby, still in the room, said, "I'll get her!"

Ruby quickly dashed out of the room, reaching the library in no time. Weiss and Blake were sitting together, enjoying the silence. Ruby slowly walked up to them, as she knew the wrath of an upset Weiss. Even so, Weiss was still surprised to see Ruby, as she was not expecting her. "Is something up?" asked Weiss, wondering if Yang was in need of help. Blake set her book down, wondering if she was needed. Ruby simply said "Could you come to the dorm for a minute?" Weiss, with a confused look on her face, looked at Blake, before agreeing to go. "None of the books here are interesting to me, anyways," said Blake.

When they arrived, they were confused to find the lawyer in the blue suit next to Yang. "Who's this?" asked Blake. Nick turned around to see the two young women. "My name is Phoenix Wright, and I'm a lawyer. This is my assistant, Maya Fey." "I'm Blake Belladonna, and this is Weiss Schnee. The four of us are roommates and a team here at Beacon," said Blake, shaking his hand. "We're here because Yang called me down here to help her with her situation," explained Nick. "Well, that should certainly give her an advantage. But that doesn't explain why Ruby brought us here," wondered Weiss. "Oh! Right, I needed to ask you something," remembered Nick. "Could I use your pen so I can take notes? I seem to have left my writing equipment back in LA..." "Is that all? Sure, go ahead. And actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to see the footage too, just in case I notice something off that you happen to miss," said Weiss. "Sure, I'll take all the help I can get. Blake?" said Nick. Blake got on her bed and said, "I'll pass. I think I'll relax with my book."

Nick, Maya, and Weiss sat watching the projection, slowing it down, and watching repeatedly. The trio was getting bored, when Nick suddenly noticed something. "...Yang?" "Yea?" "...you weren't lying. You saw something that no one else saw." Weiss was perplexed, as were Blake and Ruby. "What do you mean?" asked Yang. "This is it...this is my evidence!" thought Nick. He showed it to the team, and they all agreed that there was no way that Yang was wrong.

Meanwhile, Ironwood was talking with Ozpin. "You want me to do what?" Ironwood asked, confused. "You heard me, General. I want you to be the prosecution. A lawyer may be a rare sight in Vale, but someone needs to fill the position. Seeing as how you were the one to officiate the disqualification, I think it should only be fitting that that someone be you," Ozpin explained. Ironwood pondered the matter. "I suppose that makes sense. I will make it clear that I do not wish to purposefully make the innocent guilty, but as a headmaster it should be my duty to take care of punishable crimes such as this." "I understand," said Ozpin.


	3. Chapter 3

**January 10, 9:47 AM**  
 **Beacon Academy**

Ruby paced the floor nervously, Nick was gathering papers, and everyone else sat patiently. "I want a burger," said Maya. "I want fish," said Blake. "Just as long as I don't have to pay for it," Nick said, reminding himself of the state of his bank account.

"You nervous, Ruby?" Yang asked. "Well, yeah!" Ruby said. "My big sister is taking this whole thing to court! It started out small, and now it's this big...thing! I mean, sure, it's not just you that's made it this big, since it did make the news, but still! And there's also the chance that you might lose and make this all worse for yourself, and I don't want that!"

Nick put his hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Yang will make it out of this innocent. You have my word. It's my job as a defense attorney to make the truth be known to the court, the whole world, even." Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Wright. I feel better now." Yang got up to hug her sister. "Everything's going to be fine," she said. "I'll agree with you that this is a big jump, but it's what I think is best." "And if I may be so bold as to point out, Yang makes a lot of big decisions in a short amount of time, so something like this isn't exactly out of place for her," Weiss said. "But I have a feeling that this decision wasn't a bad one." Yang looked over at Weiss and smiled. "Thanks, Weiss."

A bailiff came out of the doors. "Sir, it's time." "Is it already?" Nick said, looking at the clock. "I guess it is. Alright, Yang, here goes nothing." Yang gave Ruby one more hug, before leaving with Nick and Maya. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake made their way to their seats.

Ozpin slammed down a gavel. "Court is now in session for the trial of Yang Xiao Long. And it is my understanding that we have a special guest with us, is that correct?" he said, looking towards Nick. He scratched the back of this head, laughing. "I guess you could say that. I'm Phoenix Wright, and I'm a defense attorney. Can't say I've been to Vale before, but it's always nice to get out of the cramped city." "I can imagine. Is the defense ready?" Ozpin asked. "Yes, Your Honor," Nick replied. Ozpin looked to the other side of the room. "Is the prosecution ready?"

Ironwood looked up towards Nick. "The prosecution is ready." Everyone looked in shock at the now-prosecutor. "General Ironwood...?" Yang asked. "Why is he the prosecution?" Weiss asked. Other murmurs were heard from the crowd, causing Ozpin to slam down his gavel. "Order! Order in the court! I would like to proceed with this as quickly as we can, and remember, students, we must be respectful when someone else is talking," he said, looking around the room. "Would the prosecution like to give his opening statements?"

Ironwood cleared his throat. "Two days ago, at the Vytal Festival Tournament, Yang Xiao Long was pitted in a one-on-one match against Haven Academy's Mercury Black. After the match was over, he reached out to give a handshake, before Ms. Xiao Long attacked his leg. To be completely honest, I see no reason for this to drag on longer than it needs to, and I would like to see if this visitor has anything to say about the situation that hasn't already been said." Ozpin nodded. "Will the defendant take the stand, please?"

Yang walked up to the stand. "State your name and profession," Ironwood said. "My name is Yang Xiao Long. I am a student at Beacon Academy, a member of Team RWBY, and a huntress in training." "You may begin your testimony," Ozpin said.

"Every year, the Vytal Festival is held, bringing together hunting teams from across Remnant. This year was no different, and my team, Team RWBY, was set to participate in the tournament. We advanced through the first round, and my partner, Weiss Schnee, and I were selected to move on to the doubles round; after we won, I was selected to move on to the singles round. It is as the prosecution said: I was put up against Mercury, and I won the fight. I walked away, and suddenly I hear him say something, and I turn around to see Mercury flying at me. I reacted, and attacked him, but all of a sudden, everyone started booing me. I know what you guys saw, but you have to believe me when I say that he attacked me!"

Ozpin nodded. "You say he said "something" to you; do you remember what it was?" Yang thought to herself. "Yeah. I said, "better luck next time," and he said, "there's not going to be a next time, blondie!" Or something like that." "Interesting," noted Ozpin. "The defense may begin the cross-examination."

Nick started, "You say you saw him attack you, in spite of what I understand to be millions of people saw. Is that correct?" "Yes, that's correct," Yang said, "and you have to believe me! I don't attack people for no reason!" "Calm yourself, Ms. Xiao Long," said Ozpin. "Continue, Mr. Wright." Nick nodded. "I'd like to present the court a piece of evidence: a segment from the tournament itself. Specifically, the moment when Ms. Xiao Long attacks Mr. Black." He played the segment from the scroll he got from Yang, and waited until it finished. "What of it, Mr. Wright?" Ironwood asked. "Have you nothing to say that hasn't been said already?"

Nick shook his head. "On the contrary, General. I'd very much like to say something that hasn't been said already." He played the clip again, pausing just before Yang attacked Mercury, and moved the camera to focus on Yang's face. "This is what I would like to say. Or, rather, this is what I would like to show."

Ironwood caught on immediately, visibly being taken aback. The students murmured again, confused as to what Nick had meant. Ozpin slammed his gavel, and demanded, "Order! Order in the court! Mr. Wright, what exactly are you getting at?" "Look at where Ms. Xiao Long's eyes are aimed," said Nick. "Well, they're aimed right in front of her," said Ozpin. "What of it?" Nick zoomed out, showing the full frame. Several gasps were heard from the crowd, and Ozpin exclaimed a very surprised "...Oh!"

Nick slammed his hands on the table, and pointed his finger, declaring, "Mr. Black's position for the handshake he was offering was not within Ms. Xiao Long's line of sight! Ergo, she saw something that no one else saw!" Ironwood slammed his fist on the table. "How could I have missed that...?" The room was filled with chatter yet again, and Ozpin slammed his gavel multiple times. "Order! Order! Order! I will have order in this court! That is all fine and well, Mr. Wright, but would you care to elaborate on what Ms. Xiao Long saw instead of a handshake?" Nick shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, I cannot, Your Honor. But I intend to find out what that is before a verdict can be reached." Ozpin nodded. "Well, I can safely say that this is a big discovery for this situation, and I leave it to the two of you to find your own solution to the mystery. Court is adjourned!" He slammed his gavel.

"Wow, I don't think anyone was expecting that! ...So what now?" Yang asked. "I'm not sure," said Nick. "Is there any way to contact this "Mercury Black" to see what happened?" "There is not," Ironwood said, walking by. "He is currently not in Vale, as he was taken away shortly after the fight." He looked at Nick. "I don't know what your game is, but try not to meddle in affairs you have no business in meddling in." The group watched the general walk away. "Do you think he's upset that he's losing?" Ruby whispered. "Well, "losing" might not be the best word, since it's very early in the case to see whether one side is winning or not," Maya explained. "We made progress, yes, but we can't actually make a statement until we can back it up with the right evidence," Nick added. "But enough about court," Maya said. "Let's get some grub! I'm starving!"


End file.
